Small Spaces
by Taisi
Summary: Mikey's nabbed by the Kraang, held for a week, and comes back to his family as not quite the same. (2K12, claustrophobia.)
1. Chapter 1

When Raph found the right door, he kicked it open so hard he could feel the sting of it up to his knee. Alarms started wailing from somewhere down the hall, but his eyes had landed on the little turtle in the corner of the impossibly small room, on the wide blue eyes reaching for his through the dark, and everything else faded to white noise.

It had been just another fight with the Kraang, just another night doing what they did, but somehow Mikey had been grabbed right from under their noses. It wasn't until the SUV was peeling away around the corner that his brothers stood back to take stock and realized one of their number was gone.

And that had been a week ago.

"Mikey, hey," Raph said, shoving his way into the room and stowing his sais. Crouching at his brother's side, he ran careful hands over Mikey's arms and shoulders. "You okay, buddy?"

There was an electric gleam in Mikey's eyes, something not quite fear as he took in Raph and then the open door behind him. The alarms were still shrieking, and precious seconds were ticking away, but Raph had all the time in the world to let Mikey get his head on straight.

He didn't have to wait long, either, because after a minute or two Mikey's gaze pulled back to meet Raph's, that familiar smile tugging across his face; a little slow and sluggish but still the best thing Raphael had ever seen.

"Took you long enough, bro."

Returning the faint grin with a blinding one, Raph hauled Mikey to his feet and crowded him close as they paused just inside the door, teetering on the brink of making the escape. And Mikey pressed in behind him, staring out at the open hallway like he'd never seen anything like it.

"The guys are holding the creeps at bay. As much as I'd like to bash all their slimy brains in, we're just gonna cut and run." Raph put both hands on Mikey's shoulders, steadying him as he wobbled a little, and made sure Mikey was looking at him before he continued. "Listen to me, little brother. If you can't keep up,_ I'll carry you_. Whatever it takes, we're going home."

Michelangelo reached up and clasped one of Raph's hands firmly. The warmth and substantiality blooming to life behind his eyes was such a relief to see it _hurt_.

"Let's do it."

Twenty minutes later found them peeling out of the compound in the Shellraiser, all of them too high-strung to do little more than shout the compulsory, "Eat it, Kraang!" Under the lights in the cab, Mikey's face was pale and tired, but the gale of his laughter more than made up for it as Donnie moved over from his chair to string his arms around Mikey's shoulders and Raph rubbed his head fondly.

"Mikey," Leo called back from the front, eyes focused on the road as he instrumented a hairpin turn, then darting a glance back to his brothers. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay," he piped up immediately, canting such a warm look Leo's way that it warmed Raph on its way past him.

"Listen, Mikey... I'm really sorry it took us so long to- "

"Don't be a dork, Leo," he interrupted cheerfully. "It's not your fault. I never doubted you dudes for a second."

Master Splinter was waiting for them in the pit as they hopped the turnstiles, and he opened his arms the moment he caught sight of his youngest son. Michelangelo broke into a run, tripping over himself the last few feet, and plowed into the waiting embrace gracelessly.

"My child," the rat said gently, folding long arms around him, "we have missed you dearly."

"Well, yeah," Mikey quipped, muffled against the front of Splinter's robes; but the cheesy bravado only lasted a second longer before he shuffled closer, fingers fisting tightly in the maroon fabric, and added, "I missed you, too."

The dark smudges under his eyes made him look somehow even more sallow in the warm lights of the lair, and as soon as their sensei let him go, Leo was putting an arm around Mikey's shoulders and guiding him toward the hall.

"You look exhausted," Leo told him gently. "We'll celebrate tomorrow, for now you should get some rest."

"Wh- wait!" Mikey ducked under Leo's arm and backed up a few steps, hands up almost defensively. At the collective stares from the rest of his family, he shuffled, waffling for a moment, and muttered, "Sorry, but... But can I stay out here? With you guys?"

Leo flicked a look at Raph and Donnie over Mikey's head, and got the same looks right back; equal parts suspicion and concern. He glanced at their sensei next, who only inclined his head slightly, leaving the decision up to Leonardo as he did in most matters regarding little brothers.

Mikey had his biggest, bluest, saddest puppy eyes going like high beams by the time Leo looked back down at him; and maybe because he'd missed Mikey like _crazy_\- or maybe just because he was a sucker for those eyes any day- but Leo caved under them almost immediately.

"Alright. We'll all sleep out here." Mikey's face brightened the way sunshine peeked through rainclouds, and Leo rubbed his head affectionately, unable to believe he'd gone a week without him. "Let's call it a night, guys. I'll grab some pillows."

Raph might have had a few choice words about their fearless leader calling bedtime any other day, but Mikey looked so relieved for whatever reason- and so tired, as he weaved toward some cushions on the floor- that Raph would go along with it tonight. He'd go along with it every night for the next hundred nights, even, so long as Mikey never got that panicked gleam in his eyes ever again.

Mikey ended up nestled against Donatello, sound asleep against his brother's plastron with Donnie's arm slung around his shoulders.

"Little menace," Leo muttered quietly, covering the two of them with a blanket. "He takes all the noise and color with him when he's gone, did you notice?"

"He's like the Oz tornado," Raph agreed. "Y'know, Leo... I think they really mighta done a number on him."

"Yeah." Leo sat next to their brothers on the floor of the pit and leaned his back against a seat. Raph saw his arm drift over experimentally, and then settle on his lap when he was rest assured the two youngest were within his reach. "We'll lie low for awhile. Stay underground for a week or two. I don't want him to think he has to keep up with us on patrol if he's not feeling up to it yet."

Raph found himself nodding. Leo gave him one of those soft, sideways smiles- a thank you, for his support without a fight- and soon enough, Raphael was the only one left awake.

And try as he might, he couldn't bring himself to close his eyes. Last time he'd stopped looking out for his baby brother, Mikey had been snatched away right from under them. Raph felt firm resolve harden into something like diamond somewhere behind his plastron, and decided then and there, _Never again. _


	2. Chapter 2

Mikey was pounding on the door, shouting through the thick steel in a voice Raphael almost didn't recognize at all.

"Raph, let me out, _let me out, _please let me out!"

How the kid even got stuck behind the storm door, Raph had no idea. They were helping Donnie set up some wires and cameras along the tunnels Donnie marked for him on a map- a new security system, their techy brother had explained- and Mikey had disappeared ahead around a corner while Raph struggled with a twisted length of cord, then _bam- _yelping brother, screeching metal, and probably ten years shaved off Raph's life for good measure.

At the sound of his brother's distress Raphael doubled his pace, calling out, "Mikey relax, I'm coming."

"_Raph!" _Almost instantly there was a violent scrambling, and he could hear the soft shuffling noise of hands along the opposite side of the door. "Raph, I, heh, I dunno what happened. I tripped, and I caught onto the handle, and it- it slammed shut, and I can't get it open."

_Worked himself up, _Raph thought with an uneasy twinge, and grabbed the handle and pulled.

And pulled.

"Raph? What are you doing?"

"The uh, the door ain't budgin', Mikey." He was braced for a shriek, but the dead silence was somehow worse. He patted his belt uselessly- he _knew _his T-phone was in the charging dock back in Don's lab, he _knew _he didn't have it on him, but a small part of him was kind of hoping for a miracle so he wouldn't have to say, "I gotta go get the guys, Mikey. I'll be right back, alright?"

"No!" Something slammed against the door, hard and sudden enough that Raph winced, and Mikey was pleading from his side, "Don't leave, Raph, please! Don't leave me here!"

Heart in his throat, Raph almost took a step back; fear and alarm flooding him ruthlessly, until it felt like he was underwater. "Mikey, I'm going to get help to get you out, okay? I'll be right back, I promise."

And then he _had _to turn and sprint away, because it sounded like Mikey had started crying. He tore into the pit and found Leo in front of the T.V.- wasted no time in horse-collaring him and dragging him bodily back toward the stupid door, despite his stupid protests. Donnie looked torn between ignoring the altercation and following, and with a sigh Raph only heard- because he didn't stop to look back- Donnie set his computer aside and trotted to catch up.

"Raph, what is wrong with you?" Leo bit out, struggling against the arm locked around his neck. "I can walk fine, just tell me where we're going."

"It's Mikey," Raphael replied, too fast, and in the pause that followed he _knew _Leo was looking at him, reading his face like a book.

Then Leo was twisting away, falling out of Raph's hold like water. "Take us to him."

By the time they found the right tunnel, the pounding had started up again on the other side of the storm door. Raph's heart sank in his chest, and Donnie almost tripped over himself rushing over.

"Mikey," Donnie called, pressing his hands flat against the door. "Hey, can you hear me?"

The thudding stopped, and after a split second, Mikey's voice soared. "Donnie?"

"Yeah, I'm here. Raph and Leo, too."

"We sure are." Leo gave Donnie a sharp nod, and the purple-masked turtle went sprinting back toward their home without a word. Then Leo settled down on his knees in front of the door, talking all the while. "Donnie's just run back to get some tools for the door. I promise we'll get you out."

"Don't leave," Mikey said shrilly, and Leo shook his head even though Mikey couldn't see, blue eyes cool and focused.

"I'm not leaving you. You know that."

"I know. Okay." There was a shifting sound, and when Mikey's voice came through again it was closer to the floor, as though he'd sat down too. "Is Donnie back yet?"

"Not yet, buddy. You okay in there?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine, I just... I want out."

"I know you do. But I'm right here on the other side of this door, okay? Just hang on." Leo tapped his fingers against the metal, then murmured almost to himself, "So he's claustrophobic. Did you know?"

_Claustrophobic?_

Of course he didn't know; the fact that Leo even had to ask felt like a slap in the face. But there was something burning behind the loaded question, like hot embers waiting to be stoked into a fire. Like Leo was _daring _him. And for the first time in his life, Raph didn't want to take the bait.

"I didn't know."

And then he was shuffled to one side as Donnie reappeared, dropping an armful of equipment at the base of the door. "Gonna torch off the hinges," he was muttering, "we can open it from the opposite side much easier. If _that _doesn't work we'll just break it down."

Leo nodded, and called out, "Mikey? Donnie's back and he's working on the door, now. Move back from it okay?"

"I dunwanna," came the hoarse response, immediately. "I'll be careful."

It took close to five minutes, and Leo couldn't talk over the torch, but the sounds of Donnie's work kept Mikey quiet. And when Raph and Leo wrenched the door free, Mikey was out like a shot, practically clawing past his brothers and out into the middle of the tunnel.

He was panting, the blue in his eyes electric with something wild, and Leo took a slow, measured step toward him while Raph's heart sort of just started breaking.

"I wanna go outside," Mikey whispered, and Leo reached for him carefully.

"It's still light out," their big brother said gently, while Donnie hurriedly bundled his tools back up in his arms. "But we'll go to our basking spot, okay? We'll sit right under that grate until it gets dark, and then we can go topside for as long as you want."

Mikey nodded jerkily, twisting his hands. After a moment he blurted, "You don't have to, if you were busy. I can just- "

"Will you carry this for me?" Donatello interrupted, shoving a sledgehammer at him he must have brought along as a contingency plan. It was heavy enough to require two hands, and Mikey scrambled for purchase that wouldn't send him tipping over. "Thanks. The sooner we get back, the better- there's a patch of sunshine just calling my name."

"No, no, that's _my _name you're hearing," Leo corrected archly, giving Mikey a nudge that made him smile.

Raph stepped up on Mikey's other side, wrapping a hesitant hand around his shoulders- _intensely _relieved when his baby brother didn't pull away. They were halfway home when Raph managed to whisper, "Sorry."

Mikey leaned into him at once, warm and forgiving, and Raph could probably have fallen over he was so relieved. As it was, he held Mikey a little tighter, and looked at Leo over the top of Mikey's head.

_We have to fix this, _he didn't say aloud. And he didn't need to, because Leo met his eyes and nodded.

* * *

It was supposed to help him, Raph knew that. Donnie constructed the room in the middle of the dojo, just a small closet of a space with solid walls and a heavy door. Mikey was supposed to sit inside it and close his eyes and meditate, and they'd be right outside, and it would be easy and he'd be just fine.

Except it wasn't. _He _wasn't. It didn't take more than fifteen minutes for Mikey to call out to them, quietly, uncertain- "Um, actually, I don't think I want to do this anymore."

Leo moved forward immediately like he'd open the door, but Splinter caught his arm, shook his head. "You are alright, my son," he said, voice as soothing as it was firm. "Just a few minutes more."

"Sensei, I don't want to," Mikey said, louder. And he sounded _scared, _the way he sounded when he was little and a nightmare shook him to tears; the way Raph hadn't heard from him in a long time. There was a thin, almost shrill note of panic in his voice, and when he spoke up next it was with a sob. "Father, please, I don't want to anymore."

And Raph couldn't take any more.

He flew past his brothers, past his sensei, before he made the conscious decision to; wrenching the door open with the point of both sai and then throwing the precious weapons to the floor in time to catch Mikey, who came scrambling toward the light and his brother so fast he tripped twice.

"It's okay, it's okay," Raph muttered, rubbing his shoulders and then his carapace. Mikey was shaking like a leaf, and when he buried his face in the crook of Raph's neck, Raph felt the wet slide of warm tears. "I got you, it's okay now."

He could feel the rest of their family staring holes into his shell, but he wrapped Mikey against his plastron as tight as he could, planted his cheek against the crown of Mikey's head, and mentally dug in his heels for a fight.

No matter _what _they said, Mikey was never going in that dark room again.

But it was Leo who spoke up a few moments later, and his voice was soft. "Is he okay?"

Raph relaxed a little bit; Leo was on his side, he didn't have to be so guarded.

"He's fine, huh, Mikey?" Utter silence was his only answer, Mikey burrowing closer like some sort of tiny heat-seeking creature- which was really all the answer Raph needed, anyway. "You're just fine, little brother."

A snapping sound made Raph flinch for the sai that weren't in his belt, feeling almost absurdly protective of the shivering kid in his arms; they were _home, _they were in the dojo, there wasn't anything to protect Mikey _from- _the sound was just Donnie, already breaking the box apart, not looking their father in the eye as he tore it apart board by board.

Leo caught Raph's eye and nodded. Raph gave Mikey a little nudge to get him moving.

"Hey, let's go topside. Get some fresh air. We'll go to Central Park and feed the dumb geese. You love the dumb geese."

"Okay," Mikey said, with maybe a tenth of his usual enthusiasm. Raph avoided looking at Master Splinter, and shared troubled gazes with Don and Leo as they left. Mikey let Raph lead him like a lamb nearly the whole way, and Raph was beginning to think that _nothing _in the world was as unnerving as his baby brother's silence.


End file.
